Pasco DUI suspect fakes deafness, deputies say

NEW PORT RICHEY — The deputy asked for his driver's license, and the driver motioned that he was deaf. It was about 1:30 a.m. Monday on U.S. 19 near Green Key Road. The deputy saw the car swerve all over the road, once going on the median, and pulled it over, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. The driver was dazed and slurring, a report states.

The deputy knew sign language and asked the driver again. The driver didn't understand. Attempts to get information from the driver continued with the deputy asking him to read lips and then writing on a note pad, the report states.

The driver broke his silence.

"You guys were persistent," said Christopher O'Callaghan, 32, of Spring Hill, the report states. "I usually play the deaf card and get away with it."

O'Callaghan, a self-employed cable installer, said he lied because his license is revoked, the report states. He was charged with DUI, knowingly driving without a license, giving a false identification to a law enforcement officer and felony contempt of court. He was being held without bail Tuesday in the Pasco County jail.